Guilford College Quakers Weekend Athletics Update

College Softball Finals – Guilford 9–9, Southern Virginia 1–2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Makayla Crawford and Anna Wolfe each hit a home run as Guilford College swept a Saturday afternoon doubleheader over Southern Virginia University. The Quakers took game one, 9-1, in six innings, and the nightcap, 9-2.

Both teams breezed through the first three innings of game one as the Quakers produced a quick top of the second inning where Casey Snead only needed three pitches to force three outs. Guilford produced a big inning in the fourth frame, scoring four of their five runs with two outs. In a pinch-hit situation, Crawford connected on a shot to the right field corner, sending her across all bases for a three-run inside-the-park home run to cap the rally in an inning where four-consecutive pinch-hitters inflicted all the damage. Guilford produced a two-run rally in the sixth inning to close the game early, capped by a dropped fly ball in the infield, which scored two runs to end the game.

The Knights rallied early in game two as Madisen Muse drove in a run to claim an early lead after one-half inning. Guilford responded one half-inning later as the Quakers drew three consecutive walks that drove in two runs to bolster a three-run rally in the frame. Guilford changed momentum again one inning later when Wolfe blasted a three-run home run to left field to extend the lead to six runs. Southern Virginia’s Mollie Gabbert hit an RBI-single in the top of the third inning, but the Quakers added two runs as part of a one-out rally in the bottom half of the frame to cushion the lead, cruising to victory.

Crawford’s three RBI led the Quakers in game one as Guilford’s top-half of the batting order produced three of the Quakers’ six hits. Makayla Carver and Shelby Helms produced multi-hit efforts in game two, each with two hits a piece. Wolfe led the Quakers with four RBI in a one-for-two effort where she also walked in a run.

Gabbert led the Knights in game two, batting three-for-three with one RBI. Muse claimed the other game-two RBI for Southern Virginia.

Maggie Shaffer (4-0) claimed the game-one win in relief of Casey Snead, who only walked one batter in a three inning effort. Rebekah Langston allowed no base-runners in the final one and two-third innings, striking out two batters. Courtney Lackey (5-1) claimed the game-two win in relief of Langston, who started game two, throwing the final four innings and giving up only one hit while fanning four batters.

Muse (1-3) claimed the game-one loss for Southern Virginia, throwing a complete-game. Rachael Moore (2-4) claimed the game-two loss throwing the first inning and starting the second, giving up four runs on one hit. Muse relieved Moore in the second to finish the game giving up five runs on ten hits, walking three, and striking out one.

Weather permitting, the Quakers (11-3) return to action tomorrow, facing Wilson College for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

College Men’s Tennis Final – Guilford 8, Shenandoah 1
WINCHESTER, Va. – After a series of narrow and hard-fought setbacks, Guilford College’s men’s tennis team clinched its first victory of the season Saturday with an 8-1 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) decision at Shenandoah University.

The Quakers (1-6, 1-2 ODAC) swept the three doubles tilts, including an 8-0 victory by Guilford’s number-three tandem of Levi Bruff and Mesa Martorell. Erik Meiler and Aaron Smedley combined for an 8-4 win over the Hornets’ Steven Baker and Jesse Ewing. Guilford’s Chasen Chacon and Graham Pearson took the second-doubles match over Matt Hwang and Kelly Sykes by the same score.

Guilford claimed five singles points, including four without losing more than one game. Mason Church needed a pro-set tie breaker to top Hwang at third singles, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-4).

Baker edged Meiler at first singles, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9) for the Hornets’ (1-4, 0-1 ODAC) lone point.

Coach Dave McCain’s Quakers visit league-foe Bridgewater College Sunday (3/13) at 10:00 a.m. It will be Guilford’s third match in as many days.

College Baseball Final – Virginia Wesleyan 4, Guilford 3

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – C.J. Lindsay scored the winning run on a wild pitch with two outs in the seventh inning of Virginia Wesleyan College’s 4-3 baseball win over Guilford College Sunday. Riley Koonce closed the door with two scoreless innings to save the Marlins’ second one-run Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) win over the Quakers in as many days.

Guilford (10-8, 1-3 ODAC) rallied to tie the game with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings on sacrifice flies by Josh Shepherd and A.J. Girting.

The Marlins (9-4, 3-1 ODAC) answered in the home seventh when Lindsay led off with an infield hit and was sacrificed to second base. Justin Erby followed with another infield hit and Deon Hammond advanced the runners with a ground ball hit to shortstop. With Nik Malvo at bat, Lindsay scored what proved the game-winning run on a wild pitch by reliever Nick Blackwood (1-2).

Guilford put runners in scoring position against Koonce in both the eighth and ninth innings, but left a runner at third in the eighth and two men aboard in the ninth.

Erby’s three hits paced the Marlins’ offense. Hammond had two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Virginia Wesleyan starter Joe Bobiak worked into the sixth inning, but did not figure in the decision. Nick Ott (1-0) entered the game with runners on second and third in the seventh inning. After yielding Girting’s sacrifice fly, he escaped further trouble by throwing a double-play ball to Jacob Roberts.

Joe Metts collected three of Guilford’s 11 hits. Grayson Tuttle added two hits and scored a run. Guilford starter Darin Salter gave up a run on four hits in three innings before yielding to Blackwood for the next four frames. Andrew Martin threw a scoreless eighth inning.

Coach Nick Black’s Quakers host league-rival Emory & Henry College Wednesday (3/16) at 3:00 p.m.

College Women’s Tennis Final – Guilford 6, Shenandoah 3

WINCHESTER, Va. – Guilford College’s women’s tennis team clinched its third straight win and second in as many days with a 6-3 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) win at Shenandoah University Saturday.

Guilford junior Riley Caruana clinched the winning point with her 0-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory at second singles. Her point was the difference thanks in part to a strong doubles performance as the Quakers (4-2, 3-1 ODAC) pulled off three close wins. Caruana and Katie Claggett edged the Hornets’ Molly Barb and Caitlin Tilton, 8-6, at first doubles. Fernanda Gonzalez and Leigh Fishman downed Shenandoah’s Amy Rapp and Denise Vollmer. Guilford’s Nora Prokosch and Chandler MacDonald squeaked past Kelsey Nicely and Melodie Madison, 9-8 (7-0).

Guilford’s Gonzalez joined Caruana as a two-time winner by blanking Nicely, 6-0, 6-0, at third singles.

Coach Dave McCain’s Quakers seek their third win in as many days Sunday (3/13) with a 10:00 a.m. ODAC match at Bridgewater College.

College Baseball Final – Virginia Wesleyan 2, Guilford 1

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Brandon Kussmaul’s two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Virginia Wesleyan College a 2-1 victory over visiting Guilford College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) baseball action Saturday.

The Marlins (8-4, 2-1 ODAC) struggled against Guilford starter Parks Smithey (1-3), who fanned a career-high nine batters and scattered three hits in a complete-game effort. C.J. Lindsay’s solo home run in the third inning tied the game at 1-1 after Guilford took a 1-0 lead on Josh Shepherd’s run-scoring single.

Virginia Wesleyan’s Nik Milvo worked a walk against Smithey to open the ninth inning, but he was erased when Smithey fielded Taylor Erby’s bunt and threw down to second. Erby stole second with Randy Neisz at the plate and took third on a throwing error. Smithey fanned Neisz for the inning’s second out, before Kussmaul singled home the game-winner.

The Marlins’ three pitchers also threw effectively. Starter John Effinger worked out of a bases-loaded situation in the first inning and allowed just the Quakers’ one run. He left Guilford runners on second and third in the fourth inning before yielding to Austin Gammon in the fifth. Gammon threw three scoreless frames and allowed only two hits. Nick Ott (1-0) worked the final two frames and earned the win.

Jacob Roberts, Chuck Noble and Mitchell Stumpo each had two hits for Guilford, which left nine runners on base.

Coach Nick Black’s ’02 Quakers close out the two-game set with the Marlins Sunday (3/13) at 1:00 p.m.

College Track and Field Results – Quakers Claim Four Top-Ten Finishes at Seahawk Invitational

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Guilford College Track and Field collected four combined top ten finishes as the Quakers finished up day two of the Seahawk Invitational, hosted by UNC-Wilmington. Schools from every NCAA division were represented, including schools from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).

The men claimed three top-ten finishes, led by Lee Joyner’s sixth-place finish in the 800 meter run. Joyner finished with a time of 2:04.30, beating out seventh-place by .6 seconds.

Josephus Mitchell (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds) claimed eighth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.10 seconds, good for second in his heat.

Mitchell was also a part of Guilford’s 4×100 meter relay team set a new school record and claimed victory over Lynchburg College from the ODAC. The team placed fifth, in a photo finish with Division I Howard University for fourth, with a time of 43.57 seconds from the team of Alex Martin (Pfafftown, N.C./Reagan), Nate Phillips, Gus Chambers, and Mitchell.

Trent Evans (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds) claimed tenth in the mile run with a time of 4:32.87. The finish placed third in his heat and was within seven seconds of the top five.

Becca Benfield claimed the top-ten finish from the women’s side, placing seventh in the discus throw with a mark of 25.73 meters. The mark is good for fourth all-time in school history.

Ymani Breedlove came close to the top ten, finishing 11th in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.54 seconds, good for second all-time in school history.

Breedlove was also a part of there 4×100 meter relay team that broke the school record with a time of 53.61 seconds. Breedlove ran the second leg of the race, joining A’lexus Newkirk, Jamie McCreary, and Kayla Scott.

The 4×400 meter relay team came close to breaking the school record with the second-best finish all-time. The team of Newkirk, McCreary, Tess Stryk, and Amy Steller (Advance, N.C./Davie County) finished with a time of 4:30.12.

Coach Danny Cash’s Quakers return to the track next Saturday, traveling to ODAC-rival Lynchburg for the Dr. Jack Toms Open.

College Softball Finals – Guilford 10–9, Wilson 1–4

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Shelby Helms and Sabrina Moreno each totaled two home runs over Sunday afternoon’s wet doubleheader with Wilson College, which the Quakers swept. Guilford claimed game one, 10-1, in five innings, and the nightcap, 9-4.

Helms drove in runs in every at-bat in game one, starting with her RBI-single in the bottom of the first inning to put the Quakers ahead. Four walks in the top of the second inning drove in the Phoenix’s lone run of the game to tie up the contest. Guilford then added nine unanswered runs, including an eight-run fourth frame where the Quakers produced eight hits, inlcuding Helms’ second home run in her consecutive at-bats. Sabrina Moreno followed Helms’ second home run with a home run of her own in the very next at-bat to cap an inning where the Quakers amassed four extra-base hits.

Guilford scored first in game one on a Taylor Boyd RBI-single in the first inning, but Wilson answered with a three-run third inning as Jenna Knable started the rally with a single through the right side. Two errors in the inning prolonged the frame as the Phoenix scored two more runs thanks to a dropped fly. The Quakers scored every inning for the remaining of the contest as Guilford produced two sacrifice flies in the bottom of the fifth inning to reclaim the lead, 4-3. Guilford continued their run of eight unanswered runs one inning later with a five-run sixth inning with Moreno capping the rally with a two-run home run in an inning where Guilford produced six extra-base hits with five coming after the first out in consecutive fashion. Wilson attempted a rally with one out when Kayla Sullenberger produced a RBI-single, but the Quakers immediately produced two outs to seal the win.

Helms finished the doubleheader five-for-eight totaling four RBI with two home runs. Moreno finished four-for-six with two home runs, a triple, and three RBI. Laura Hall hit four-for-six with three RBI with one double and one stolen base.

Sullenberger was the lone Phoenix bat with a multi-hit game, batting two-for-four in game two with one RBI.

Casey Snead (1-0) claimed the game-one win for the Quakers in a three and one-third inning relief effort where she struck out four batters and walked one, her only base runner that she surrendered. Maggie Shaffer earned the start, walking four and giving up one hit. Makayla Carver (3-1) took the game-two win, striking out three and walking three in a four-inning three-hit relief effort giving up just one run on three hits. Rebekah Langston started game two, striking out three and walking one in a three-inning effort.

Sullenberger (4-5) took the game-one loss for the Phoenix, with Taylor Giles throwing the final two-third innings. Giles (0-1) claimed the game two loss in a five and one-third inning effort where she struck out one giving up five earned runs on ten hits before being relieved by Taylor Crouse.

The Quakers (13-3) return to action Wednesday to host North Carolina Wesleyan College for a 2 p.m. doubleheader.